A plate given to Lanfranc School by Stavanger Red Cross in 1963. In August 1961, 34 boys and two masters of Lanfranc Boys' School, Mitcham road had lost their lives in a tragic aircrash. The boys and masters were on their way on a school trip to Norway. For many of the boys it was their first trip abroad. Their plane crashed in bad weather on the Norwegian mountains near Stavanger. It was the worst peacetime disaster Croydon had suffered, and news of the crash shocked the whole country. Messages of support to the bereaved families came from the Queen and King of Norway. Most of those who died were buried in Mitcham Road Cemetery and within a week over 100,000 mourners had visited the mass grave.